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I refer to the commentary (July 30). The writer highlights the benefits of renting her own home and living on her own, and how that buys her “a slice of freedom and independence”, and that independent living affords her “an education in life that no classroom will ever offer”. Call me a wet blanket, but her sentiments and those of younger Millennials and Gen Z worry me. Gen Xers like me, on the cusp of retirement, have a different outlook and lived experience. As the writer mentioned, the older generation question why she is throwing money away on rent instead of accumulating it as down payment for a property. There is value in hard-nosed pragmatism – financial prudence today is going to save one a lifetime of heartache and abject desperation later. Planning for retirement may be the farthest thing on young people’s minds. Unfortunately, financial independence or even an adequate retirement nest egg would be out of reach for the young if they are simply going to seize the day and live like there is no tomorrow. Regret will come too late in their later years when they lack the means and runway to tackle financial inadequacy.